As part of our initiative called Curious Cornhuskers, an anonymous reader asked The Daily Nebraskan, “At Cather Dining Hall, they switched up the dessert section so people have to ask for a dessert now, which is kinda weird. Why?”

UNL director of dining Dave Annis said he wanted to add more variety in the desserts at Cather, present a “wow factor” and have a more personal touch in the dining hall by displaying the desserts in a glass case and having them served to students. Jake Dietrich, the assistant manager at Cather Dining Center, said the goal is to have there be 20 different options in the case at all times.

According to Dietrich, Annis came up with the idea to rearrange the dessert section.

“You come in, you see that bright case, and it looks really cool,” Dietrich said. “The idea is that people like to be served instead of having to grab it on their own. It’s an interaction that we can have with the students. We can say, ‘Hey, how’s your day going?’ It’s more personal.”

Some of the desserts in the case are purchased, while others are made in the dining center, Dietrich said.

“We have an amazing baker here,” Dietrich said. “She makes a lot of desserts from scratch. She’s really talented. We wanted to showcase her talents, but, at the same time, we didn’t want to overload her.”

Additionally, the dessert menu is on a rotation schedule. The same desserts are available for Monday and Tuesday, then the menu switches for Wednesday and Thursday. It switches again for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The dessert case may even start to feature desserts from local businesses, Dietrich said.

“The ideal for the future is to reach out to some local bakeries like Le Quartier, Goldenrod or Butterfly Bakery,” he said. “We may use some of their stuff in the case as a way to promote local businesses.”